A Time for Everything and Nothing at All
The Book of Ecclesiastes does not preach so much as it sighs. It does not command but contemplates. You can almost hear the shuffle of sandals on…
Health and Wellness
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Why Random Acts of Kindness Still Matter in a Selfish World
We are not, most of us, in the habit of expecting kindness. Not from strangers, not without motive, and certainly not without a price. The world trains…
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Strong Men, Weak Men, and the Hamster Wheel of History
There are moments in life that make you feel like a genius. For most people, it’s when they successfully parallel park on the first try or remember…
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Lies for the Weak, Truth for the Brave
“To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.” That was Marcus Aurelius, by the way, who managed…
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The Big Cosmic Joke and Other Light Reading
I first suspected that existence was absurd while eating a corn dog at the Iowa State Fair. It wasn’t the corn dog itself, though that could be…
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Family Is Who Shows Up: Why Blood Doesn’t Always Make You Kin
Family has never been a matter of blood. Not truly. The phrase is old and worn, like great-grandmother’s quilt passed down so many generations it has lost…
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Friends Just Get in the Way of Watching TV
The other night, in a moment of either deep cultural insight or total defeat, I found myself watching King of Queens while eating a bowl of cereal…
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How to Stay Sane in an Insane World: Lessons from a 4th-Century Truth Teller
In high school, I once got into an argument with a guidance counselor over the definition of the word “truth.” She said it was about facts. I…
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Living a Life Out of Context: Why Misfits, Exiles, and Outsiders Might Save Us
There are those who seem born already a few degrees off from the compass that most people follow. They live out of step, out of time, out…
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The Cost of the Mask
We are what we pretend to be. The trouble is, we have gotten very good at pretending. We wear the mask of confidence when we are unsure,…